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ETF assets surge four-fold in 2 years on steady inflow from EPFO ETFs are traded on stock exchanges, with stocks, bonds or commodities as the underlying product The assets of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have quadrupled in the past two years, on the back of steady inflow from the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).ETFs are traded on stock exchanges, with stocks, bonds or commodities as the underlying product. An ETF's portfolio exactly mimics the securities in its underlying index, in the same weightage. EPFO had entered the stock market in August 2015. The decision was to invest up to five per cent of its investible deposits; this was raised in 2016 to 10 per cent and then in 2017 to 15 per cent. The body had an estimated Rs 440 billion invested in the stock market this January. EPFO has invested the remaining portion in debt market instruments such as government securities and bank fixed deposits.ETF schemes run by SBI Mutual Fund and UTI MF have cornered most of the EPFO…

SEBI re-constitutes panel on corporate bond market Markets regulator Sebi has re- constituted its committee that suggests roadmap for developing corporate bond market in the country.The 27-member committee would now be chaired by Harun R Khan, former Deputy Governor at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), as per the latest update with Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). Earlier, the panel was headed by Shyamala Gopinath, who was also a former Deputy Governor at RBI.Notably, Sebi chairman Ajay Tyagi was part of the HR Khan committee appointed to look into measures to deepen the corporate bond market in the country.The committee -- corporate bonds and securitization advisory -- has representations from the government, banks, markets regulator, mutual funds, rating agencies, stock exchanges and depositories. The panel was set up in 2011 under the chairmanship of R H Patil and is mandated to advise the regulator on developing the corporate bond market and as well as securitised instru…

Epayments continue to climb in feb Digital payment transactions for February have touched 1.09 billion maintaining the above 1-billion threshold even in the shortest month of the year, acoording to RBI data. The numbers reveal that UPI clocked 17.12 million against 151 million recorded in january. while UPI maintained the growth trajectory, carads showed a slight fall at 2.47 million The Economic Times, New Delhi, 08th March 2018

Fooling the IT returns system by using all zeros as Aadhaar number Central Board of Direct Taxes had issued a circular, making it mandatory to provide Aadhaar or the enrolment number with IT returns for everyone Even as the government is in overdrive to get people to link their Aadhaar number with the income tax (I-T) department while filing returns, some of those without the unique identification number have managed to find a loophole in the system.They say they have been able to file tax returns by putting in all 0s or 1s instead of the 12-digit Aadhaar. The drive to link Aadhaar with I-T returns started in July last year. Central Board of Direct Taxes had issued a circular, making it mandatory to provide Aadhaar or the enrolment number with IT returns for everyone who was eligible for the unique identification number. The same condition applied for those applying for the permanent account number, too. However, many still do not have an Aadhaar card and are holding out till the Supreme…

Council to take first step on bringing alcohol into Goods and Services Tax The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council will likely take the first step towards inclusion of alcohol in the GST during its meeting on Saturday. Despite resistance from states, extra-neutral alcohol (ENA), a key ingredient in making alcoholic beverages, or ‘alcohol for human consumption’, may be included in the GST if a consensus is arrived at This is Centre’s second attempt at imposing the GST on ENA, which is taxed by states at present. Alcohol for human consumption, or potable alcohol, is out of the GST, whereas its input, ENA, is a grey area. Industrial alcohol is within the GST. “The council will take a re-look at taxing ENA under the GST. States had opposed it earlier, but now we have a legal view on the matter, strengthening our case for taxing it under the GST,” said a government official. The council is meeting after a gap of one-and-a-half months.The Centre has taken the views of the additional solicitor-…

GST Council to weigh proposal to further delay rollout of e-way bill The GST Council meeting on Saturday will also try to reach a consensus on simplifying GST returns and set GST on raw alcohol The GST Council meeting will on Saturday consider proposals to further delay rolling out the e-way bill system by about 5-6 months and levy GST on a concentrated form of alcohol.The 26th GST Council meeting will also try to reach a consensus on simplifying tax returns. The GST Council meeting, earlier planned as a video conference, will now be held in New Delhi as this is expected to make it easier to explore consensus on technical issues relating to tax rebates that are proving to be a stumbling block in simplifying tax returns, a person privy to the development said on condition of anonymity. The GST Council wants to make sure that businesses, logistics firms and the IT backbone for rolling out e-way bills are fully prepared before electronic permits become compulsory for the movement of goods. C…